BET Founder Reveals That Trump Offered Him A Cabinet Position: ‘It Was An Easy Discussion.’

Black Entertainment Television founder and media mogul Bob Johnson told CNBC Tuesday that he had turned down a position in President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration.

Johnson explained that refusing the offer was an easy decision, as handling all the layers of bureaucratic government didn’t fit his personality.

“It was an easy discussion, because I wasn’t coming there on a job interview,” Johnson told CNBC. “He hinted at something I could be interested in, and I quickly shut that down. It was a Cabinet position.

Advertisement - story continues below

Related Stories

“But I can’t work for the government … because to me as an entrepreneur trying to work in a government structure where you got to go through 15 different layers of decision-making to get want you want done doesn’t fit my mold,” he added.

Johnson also believes Trump is not a racist and will engage with the African-American community in order to provide opportunities the Democrats have not.

“To me, I never thought Donald Trump, and I still don’t believe it today, was a racist. I don’t believe that he’s anti-African-American,” Johnson said. “For too long, the African-American community has been ignored by the Republicans because they thought we were always locked with the Democrats.”

Advertisement - story continues below

Johnson thinks Trump will use his business savvy to elevate himself above the status quo of politics, and believes that Trump is not in any established camp.

“Certainly not an establishment Republican [and] he’s not a Democrat, he was open. And he’s a business guy. And business guys tend to look at where’s the opportunity for a benefit,” Johnson said.

Johnson had previously met with the Trump team Nov. 20 to discuss certain economic strategies that would have the potential to uplift African-Americans.

“I made it a point to say to him, ‘President-elect Trump, you shouldn’t start any discussion with African-Americans about what [they] have to lose, but talk about what African-Americans have to gain under a Trump administration in terms of economic opportunity, jobs, and full participation in the U.S. economy.’ And he said, ‘You’re right, I should be more aspirational.’ And I think that’s what he’s going to try to be,” Johnson said.